Game of Thrones: 10 Episodes You Should Rewatch Before Season 4

It’s easy to forget what’s happening on Game of Thrones; there’s so much going on. In order to prepare for Season 4, it doesn’t hurt to do a little homework. Here are 10 episodes from the show’s run that will get you ready for the April 6 premiere.

Season 1, Episode 1, "Winter Is Coming." The pilot episode of the series gives us a nostalgic look back at just how far we’ve come. We are introduced to the Starks as one big, mostly happy family, while we are conditioned to hate the Lannisters almost immediately. It’s clear from the beginning that Joffrey, Cersei, and Jaime are all villains, culminating in Bran Stark learning that Jaime and Cersei are incestuous lovers and in turn being viciously pushed out a window by Jaime.

Season 1, Episode 4, "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things." The episode serves as a good primer for Season 4 mainly because it features a good look at a character returning for the new season whom we haven’t seen in some time: Jon Snow’s Night’s Watch antagonist Alliser Thorne, whose hatred for Jon should once again be a factor in Season 4.

Season 1, Episode 6, "The Wolf and the Lion." Another episode that features long-forgotten characters and plot points who’ll be showing up in Season 4. This episode reveals that Jorah Mormont is spying on Dany for King Robert, something that may come back to haunt him in Season 4. We also get The Hound’s brother The Mountain, returning next season, in his most memorable scene to date, in which he fights his brother after losing a joust to Ser Loras and beheading his horse. Last but not least, we are introduced to Cat Stark’s nutso sister Lysa Arryn, who will once again bring the crazy in Season 4.

Season 2, Episode 6, "The Old Gods and the New." This episode takes place during Tyrion’s memorable reign as Hand of the King, and features one of his more controversial decisions as Hand: sending Joffrey’s sister Myrcella sent to Dorne. If this doesn’t sound terribly significant, it will be. We’ll meet our first Dornish character in Season 4, Oberyn Martell, so we can count on hearing Myrcella’s name pop up from time to time.

Season 2, Episode 8, "The Prince of Winterfell." Cat Stark reveals to Robb that she has released Jaime Lannister from custody in exchange for the safety of Cat’s daughters, Arya and Sansa. With the new good guy Jaime Lannister now back in King’s Landing for Season 4, will he keep his word and see the Stark girls to safety?

Season 2, Episode 9, "Blackwater." This epic battle sees Tyrion’s greatest victory, one soon forgotten by everyone else in King’s Landing, and Stannis’ greatest defeat, one from which he’s still trying to recover. We suspect Tyrion to fall even further from his high-point in this episode in Season 4, since he’s in handcuffs through most of the trailers, while we hope Stannis can finally bounce back from his embarrassment.

Season 3, Episode 4, "And Now His Watch Is Ended." If it’s not obvious from the title, this episode features the Night’s Watch mutiny, fracturing the Watchers of the Wall to tatters ahead of a possible face-off with the Wildlings in Season 4. This episode also features Dany greatly expanding her power, as she gains her army of Unsullied and takes her first city, Astapor. Expect Dany to expand on her momentum here in Season 4, as she looks for more ways to increase her influence in the region.

Season 3, Episode 6, "The Climb." This episode is the last we see of Littlefinger before he heads to the Vale. Why is that important? Because Littlefinger is kind of a big deal, and we feel like he’s going to have a major effect on what goes down in Season 4. If you don’t believe us now, you will after rehearing his chilling monologue about chaos.

Season 3, Episode 9, "The Rains of Castamere." The Red Wedding. Need we say more? If you weren’t excited for Season 4 already (and you should be), rewatch this episode. You’ll be so psyched for revenge that you’ll be counting down the hours until April 6.

Season 3, Episode 10, "Mhysa." While this episode doesn’t feature any major reveals like the one that preceded it, it does a nice job of showing where all the major players are heading into Season 4. Will it blow your mind? No, but it serves as a nice appetizer to the main course of Season 4.

Catch the Game of Thrones Season 4 premiere on April 6, 2014 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.